About this Open Source Engineer role at Firecrawl
Open Source Engineer
Firecrawl is looking for a high-agency engineer to own our open source work. That starts with the main Firecrawl repo — 170k+ stars and counting — which should stay the easiest thing in the category to self-host. It extends to the context primitives we're open sourcing now, starting with anydoc, our document parsing engine. You'll keep the core repo healthy and growing, build out the primitives, and think about what makes each one spread on its own.
This is not a developer relations role. We want an engineer who ships the code, reviews the PRs, and makes the repos better every week. Community instincts help, but engineering quality, shipping velocity, and a track record of work people actually use matter most.
Salary Range: $235,000–$260,000/year
Equity Range: Competitive equity — details shared during the process.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Job Type: Full-Time
Experience: 5+ years
Visa: Must be legally authorized to work in the United States. We're not able to sponsor visas right now, though that may change down the line.
About Firecrawl
Firecrawl is the easiest way to turn the web into data AI agents can use. One API call converts any URL into clean, LLM-ready markdown or structured data - the boring-hard problem everyone building with LLMs eventually hits, solved.
We hit 8 figures in ARR in year one and more than doubled it in year two. We have 175k+ GitHub stars, and developers, agents, and category-defining AI companies build on us every day. Growth like this is rare, and we're just getting started.
We're a small team punching far above our weight. Everyone here owns a real piece of the product and company, end to end, and runs it themselves - no hiding behind process or headcount.
This is a place for people who want to work at the frontier: an AI company building the infrastructure other AI companies run on, not one bolting AI onto an existing product. We move fast, go deep, and are building the tools superintelligence will rely on to gather data from the web.
What You'll Do
Own the main Firecrawl repo end to end — triage issues, review PRs, cut releases, write docs
Keep the self-host experience easy: clone it, run it, keep it running, no surprises
Build out new context primitives, starting with anydoc, our document parsing engine
Make the calls on scope and API design for what belongs in a primitive and what doesn't
Think about what makes an open source project spread on its own, and build toward that
Ship code and review PRs every week — this is an engineering seat, not a community seat
What We're Looking For
A real open source track record — maintaining a popular repo, or landing significant contributions to one
You care about the self-host experience and know what makes a repo easy to clone, run, and keep running
Comfortable owning a repo end to end, from triaging issues and reviewing PRs to cutting releases and writing docs
You've built parsers, crawlers, browser tooling, or developer libraries, and have taste in what belongs in a primitive and what doesn't
You understand how open source turns into adoption and pay attention to why some projects take off
High agency — happy to make calls on scope, API design, and what gets merged
Often a maintainer, ex-founder, early startup engineer, or builder with impressive public work
What We're NOT Looking For
Someone looking for a developer relations role — this is an engineering seat first
Someone who wants community work to substitute for shipping code
Someone who needs a mapped-out roadmap before they'll make a scope call
Someone who's used open source but never maintained or owned a repo of real scale
A Note On Pace
We operate at an absurd level of urgency because the window for what we're building won't stay open forever. If that excites you, keep reading. If it doesn't, no hard feelings — but this role probably isn't for you.
Benefits & Perks
Available to all employees
Salary that makes sense — $235,000–$260,000/year, based on impact, not tenure
Own a piece — Gain competitive equity in what you're helping build
Generous PTO — 15 days mandatory, anything after 24 days, just ask (holidays excluded); take the time you need to recharge
Parental leave — 12 weeks fully paid, for all parents
Wellness stipend — $100/month for the gym, therapy, massages, or whatever keeps you human
Learning & Development — Expense up to $1,000/year toward anything that helps you grow professionally
Team offsites — A change of scenery, minus the trust falls
Sabbatical — 3 paid months off after 4 years, do something fun and new
Available to US-based full-time employees
Full coverage, no red tape — Medical, dental, and vision (100% for employees, 50% for spouse/kids) — no weird loopholes, just care that works
Life & Disability insurance — Employer-paid short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance — coverage for life's curveballs
Supplemental options — Optional accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and voluntary life insurance for extra peace of mind
Doctegrity telehealth — Talk to a doctor from your couch
401(k) plan — Retirement might be a ways off, but future-you will thank you
Pre-tax benefits — Access to FSAs and commuter benefits (US-only) to help your wallet out a bit
Pet insurance — Because fur babies are family too
Available to SF-based employees
SF HQ perks — Snacks, drinks, team lunches, intense ping pong, and peak startup energy
E-Bike transportation — A loaner electric bike to get you around the city, on us
Interview Process
Application Review — Send us your resume and a link to something you've built. We care about what you've actually shipped, not where you went to school.
Intro Chat (~25 min) — A quick conversation to get to know each other before we go deep. We'll talk about what you've been working on, what drew you to Firecrawl, and what you're looking for in your next role. Time for your questions too.
Technical Chat (~45 min) — Ship something real on one of our open source repos, paid at a contractor rate. It's the truest signal for both sides: you see what maintaining Firecrawl's open source work actually feels like, and we see how you operate.
Founder Chat (~25 min) — Culture, pace, ownership, and how you like to work. Time for your questions too.
Paid Work Trial (1-2 weeks) — Ship something real on one of our open source repos, paid at a contractor rate. It's the truest signal for both sides: you see what maintaining Firecrawl's open source work actually feels like, and we see how you operate.
Decision — We move fast after the trial.
If you want to own the open source surface of one of the fastest-growing AI companies in the world, you should join us.
👉 Apply now.
